


The Ring

by Evil_Little_Dog



Series: MCU Shorties [39]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Community: comment_fic, Deaf Clint Barton
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-04
Updated: 2019-03-04
Packaged: 2019-11-09 06:58:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17997062
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Evil_Little_Dog/pseuds/Evil_Little_Dog
Summary: Written for the prompt "MCU, Clint Barton/any learning to adapt to hearing loss".Being partially deaf since 2004, I wanted to deal with a very common annoyance that I have and did not even think of a possible pairing/partner in the story.





	The Ring

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sharpiesgal (TigerLily)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TigerLily/gifts).



It's the _ring_ that gets to him. It's ever-constant, ever-buzzing, taking the place of every other sound he could previously hear. The dull ring makes it difficult to concentrate. 

Technically, he knows the tinnitus is related to his hearing loss. _Technically_ , he understand this. 

It doesn't help with the distraction of the ring, the way it booms when his heart rate increases, it being the last thing he hears when he tries to sleep and the first thing when he wakes. 

He's given up trying to describe it ("like your very own wasp living in your ear" or "that old-fashioned alarm clock that doesn't have an off switch"). The hearing aids only help so much. They don't block the ringing, just increase his ability to catch _real_ sounds. 

Sometimes, he wonders what it would be like to be Beethoven, writing symphonies he could never hear. Having that music in your head, always accompanied by the ring. At least he doesn't have to live as a musical genius and knowing what he'd lost there. 

It's a small favor the ring gave him but he guesses he'll take it. Without a cure, he's going to have to live with it anyway.


End file.
